Last Modified: Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 12:24 a.m.

Florida's Erik Murphy takes a shot against Marquette during the second half at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Thursday.

Matt Stamey/Staff photographer

But the message has been made clear to Murphy — keep shooting, as long as you have open looks.

Florida will be looking for the 6-foot-10 Murphy to try to stretch the defense today when the Gators face Louisville in their Elite Eight matchup.

Murphy went just 1 for 8 from 3-point range Thursday night against Marquette. Over his last three games, Murphy is just four for his last 18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc.

Murphy missed all three of his wide open 3-point attempts in the first half, but hit a big 3-pointer in the second half that extended UF's lead to 43-34.

“Sometimes when you miss three in a row to start the game, you get a little down on yourself,” Murphy said. “You always have to have the mentality the next one is going in.”

Florida freshman guard Bradley Beal said the team remains confident Murphy will break out of his slump. Murphy is shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range this season.

“Murph is probably our best 3-point shooter, if you look at the percentages,” Beal said. “Even when he wasn't making shots (Thursday), I was like, ‘Murph, keep shooting the ball.' There's times when he hesitated and I was like ‘shoot the ball.' He still has that confidence and I think he'll be fine.”

Murphy has contributed to UF's deep NCAA Tournament run in other ways. He's averaged seven rebounds over his last three games and held Marquette forward Jae Crowder to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

“Right now just at this point in the season it's just one-and-done,” Murphy said. “So you have to do everything you can every night.”

Secret weapon

Much has been made of Louisville assistant coach Richard Pitino's knowledge of Florida. Pitino was an assistant at UF from 2009-11 before going back to Louisville to be with his father.

But Florida has its own secret weapon. Billy O'Meara, a former student manager at Louisville from 2007-11, is now the assistant video coordinator at UF.

O'Meara has provided an assist to UF's scouting efforts.

“The coaches, they've been in my ear a little bit,” O'Meara said. “More or less just questions about personnel. Coach (John) Pelphrey, he's handling the scouting and has been talking to me on an off all day.”

Florida coach Billy Donovan said he thinks Pitino's knowledge of UF will have “somewhat of an impact” in the matchup with Louisville.

“Our team is a little bit different than it was a year ago,” Donovan said. “We had (Chandler) Parsons and (Vernon) Macklin and (Alex) Tyus. Philosophy-wise, there's going to be some things that Richard already knows. But I think our guys are going to have to go out and play and execute and do what they need to do.”

Etc.

Donovan is 28-9 in the NCAA Tournament, the third-highest winning percentage among active coaches behind Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams. … Louisville is 8-3 in Elite Eight games, while Florida is 4-1.

<p>PHOENIX — Florida junior forward Erik Murphy has been mired in a three-game shooting slump since his career-high 24 point game against Kentucky.</p><p>But the message has been made clear to Murphy — keep shooting, as long as you have open looks.</p><p>Florida will be looking for the 6-foot-10 Murphy to try to stretch the defense today when the Gators face Louisville in their Elite Eight matchup.</p><p>Murphy went just 1 for 8 from 3-point range Thursday night against Marquette. Over his last three games, Murphy is just four for his last 18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc. </p><p>Murphy missed all three of his wide open 3-point attempts in the first half, but hit a big 3-pointer in the second half that extended UF's lead to 43-34.</p><p>“Sometimes when you miss three in a row to start the game, you get a little down on yourself,” Murphy said. “You always have to have the mentality the next one is going in.”</p><p>Florida freshman guard Bradley Beal said the team remains confident Murphy will break out of his slump. Murphy is shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range this season.</p><p>“Murph is probably our best 3-point shooter, if you look at the percentages,” Beal said. “Even when he wasn't making shots (Thursday), I was like, 'Murph, keep shooting the ball.' There's times when he hesitated and I was like 'shoot the ball.' He still has that confidence and I think he'll be fine.”</p><p>Murphy has contributed to UF's deep NCAA Tournament run in other ways. He's averaged seven rebounds over his last three games and held Marquette forward Jae Crowder to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting.</p><p>“Right now just at this point in the season it's just one-and-done,” Murphy said. “So you have to do everything you can every night.”</p><p><b>Secret weapon</b></p><p>Much has been made of Louisville assistant coach Richard Pitino's knowledge of Florida. Pitino was an assistant at UF from 2009-11 before going back to Louisville to be with his father.</p><p>But Florida has its own secret weapon. Billy O'Meara, a former student manager at Louisville from 2007-11, is now the assistant video coordinator at UF.</p><p>O'Meara has provided an assist to UF's scouting efforts.</p><p>“The coaches, they've been in my ear a little bit,” O'Meara said. “More or less just questions about personnel. Coach (John) Pelphrey, he's handling the scouting and has been talking to me on an off all day.”</p><p>Florida coach Billy Donovan said he thinks Pitino's knowledge of UF will have “somewhat of an impact” in the matchup with Louisville.</p><p>“Our team is a little bit different than it was a year ago,” Donovan said. “We had (Chandler) Parsons and (Vernon) Macklin and (Alex) Tyus. Philosophy-wise, there's going to be some things that Richard already knows. But I think our guys are going to have to go out and play and execute and do what they need to do.”</p><p><b>Etc.</b></p><p>Donovan is 28-9 in the NCAA Tournament, the third-highest winning percentage among active coaches behind Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams. … Louisville is 8-3 in Elite Eight games, while Florida is 4-1.</p>